Shattered Rose
by Thedrag0n22
Summary: Ruby Rose has been having terribly real nightmares, the line between nightmare and reality blur.
1. Broken

Ruby opened her eyes to the sight of a forest, she stood up and spun around observing her surroundings. She saw long shadows in the forest, moving lights, the sounds of whispers on the wind.

"Come play with us, Ruby." One spoke.

"Come die with us" another said, Ruby loaded Crescent Rose and looked around worriedly. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a Beowulf limp from the shadows, whimpering in pain and with a missing paw.

"You did this" the whispers said. The Beowulf fell to reveal another figure. Ruby looked at the figure in the shadows and as they stepped out the light revealed her as...Ruby, they looked at each other, the Beowulf corpse between them.

"You're...me?" Ruby spoke, fearful of the sight of a blooded clone of herself.

"Yes," her other self said, wiping the blood from her arms. "I'm you, only stronger" a smile touched her lips and it only served to make her look more mad, she stepped over the Beowulf and touched Ruby on the cheek.

"Oh, you are so innocent and weak." The blooded clone clamped her hands around Ruby's throat.

"You are me, you think I am a cheap copy, but I am better. We don't need your team or your sister. I will take control, and I will kill them all." Ruby fired Crescent Rose into her crazed clone's chest. It had no effect other than the hands on her throat tightened.

Ruby's vision started to darken around the edges until all she could see was the face of her clone.

"I wonder how I'm going to kill your sister" the clone mocked.

"Maybe cut her up, or drown her, or maybe feed her to a Nevermore; but first, I'll deal with you." She threw Ruby into one of the trees surrounding them and picked Crescent Rose up from the ground.

"Goodbye Ruby." She unfolded the weapon and a twisted smile spread across her face.

"Sleep well." She swung the scythe at Ruby and all went black.

* * *

Ruby's eyes shot open and she jumped into a sitting position.

She blinked the dark spots from her eyes and looked around. She was in her dorm at Beacon with her teammates around her.

"It was only a dream," She said quietly to herself. She jumped out of bed and walked to the window, she gazed out at the shattered moon and thought it was almost a mocking gesture to the world.

"_The moon… Shattered for all time. Beautiful and terrifying all the same._" She thought as she looked at the shattered remains of the moon. No one knows how it was damaged, maybe it was always this way.

Ruby never cared for the how or when, but she gazed at it all the same, wondered why it was shattered.

And she heard a voice in her mind, much like her own but more cold, cruel.

"You gaze at that moon because you are shattered. You. We are just like it."

Ruby tried to ignore the voice, to force it out but it kept speaking.

"You are Ruby Rose, the girl, the Sister. I am Ruby Rose, the killer, the Huntress, the defender, and the attacker. I am the oppressor and the oppressed."

The voice lowered to a dark whisper.

"You are my oppressor, Ruby Rose; and I will break you."

Ruby felt herself falling to her knees, but she didn't stop it. She felt the sting of tears on her face, but didn't wipe them away. The words echoed in her head.

"I will break you."

Over and over again, twisting into hisses and growls, screeches, and cries. Ruby covered her ears; but the monstrous sounds only got louder, she started shaking and sobbing as the sounds got louder and more violent.

Ruby fell onto her side and shut her eyes, and she screamed.

* * *

As she screamed, hands turned her on her back, and she screamed louder, imagining the hands around her throat again.

Ruby kept screaming until the sounds died away, she laid there panting and opened her eyes to the sight of her sister and teammates surrounding her, Weiss' eyes were full of frustration, Blakes were closed as she quietly took her hands from her cat ears, and Yangs glinted with tears.

"Ruby," She said. "What happened I mean are you alright?"

Ruby looked into her sister's eyes. "_I can't tell her._" Ruby thought to herself. "_What would she think_?" Ruby averted her eyes and softly said.

"Yea….I just had a nightmare." Yang nodded and goaded Wiess back to her bed before she could as she always put it "speak" to Ruby.

"What was the nightmare?" Blake said having opened her eyes to look at Ruby.

Ruby looked back with bloodshot eyes. "It was….death."

Blake stared at Ruby for a moment before saying, "I told you it wasn't all a fairy tail." Ruby nodded and Blake went to her bed. Ruby shakily stood up.

"I'm...going to walk for a little while." She grabbed her cloak and left before anyone could object.

"Running away won't do anything for you, Ruby." Ruby grit her teeth and attempted to ignore it. She heard the cruel laugh in her mind.

"Ignoring me does nothing Ruby, one of us has to die." The voice laughed again and the sound morphed into the screech of a Nevermore, Then countless Beowulves crying out in pain.

"Do you remember these sounds, Ruby? The beasts I killed while you cowered away inside." The sounds morphed again into a familiar voice crying in pain.

"It was ME who saved her, not you. I am the huntress. I am the warrior. You are nothing more than a pathetic little girl." Ruby stepped onto the roof and looked out across the academy. beyond that to the forest.

"_Its so beautiful, isn't it?_" Ruby thought

"_The forest filled with the corpses of Grimm after Grimm. I will not be a killer. You kill not to be a huntress; but because you enjoy it don't you?_" The cold voice in her head laughed

"And you wouldn't? Killing Grimm is killing Grimm. I may enjoy it….But I could kill your sister instead."

"_No. I will not be a killer. I will not be you." _Ruby stepped to the edge of the building and looked _down._

"You will not kill my sister." Ruby tilted forward, not noticing the shadow behind her.

"You will never kill anyone."


	2. fractured

A high pitched screech shot through Ruby's head followed by the deathly calm voice.

"Do you really think I can't stop you Ruby?" The voice mocked.

"I brought you to your knees before, what makes you think I can't do it again?" Ruby faltered in her pitch off the edge and in that moment the shadow behind her acted, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

"RUBY!" Blakes voice rang out.

"What are you doing!" Ruby's mind went blank in shock and her mental wall against the voice in her head falled.

"This is what happens when you try to fight," the voice whispered. Ruby struck blake, knocking her to the ground.

"_STOP!_" Ruby shouted in her mind. The oppressive voice in her mind relinquished control but not before whispering to ruby.

"This is what happens my dear Ruby. Try to kill us again and I will end all you love." The voice faded from Ruby's mind and she knelt next to Blake.

"Blake I'm sorry I didn't know it was you and I jumped and I-" Blake put up her hand.

"It's fine….I was a bit too loud" Ruby helped Blake to her feet and they started towards the dorm.

"Ruby?" Blake said. "What was that? Why were you about to…." Blake's voice trailed off as the implication set in. Ruby sneaked a worried glance at blake.

"I wouldn't have done that I was...just admiring the view."

"Could you admire the view a little further from the edge next time?" Ruby nodded as they neared the dorm.

"Blake could you...Not tell Yang what happened?" Blake eyed Ruby for a moment before nodding.

"sure, just don't do it again," Blake walked into the dorm with Ruby following.

"_She knows what I was going to do." _ Ruby thought. "_Should I tell her what happened?"_

The other voice returned and whispered. "If you tell anyone there will be...consequences" Ruby flinched at the cruel voice in her head. Yang ran up to Ruby and wrapped her arms around her.

"Ruby." She said. "Avoid Weiss right now, she's… Frustrated with you waking her up."

"Don't you DARE start screaming again." Weiss called from the other side of the room. Ruby nodded to Yang and ignored Weiss' comment.

"Oh and remember Ruby, we're gonna be training against other teams tomorrow." Yang said.

The voice returned once more saying. "Don't worry Ruby, I'll kill them quickly."

* * *

The rest of the night went without incident. The other Ruby had faded,

but Ruby knew the instant the combat training started it would be back with that screeching.

She had no choice in the matter, so she woke up, got cleaned and dressed, loaded her weapon and walked to the training ground with the rest of her team. They were met by professor ozpin and team CRDL, Ozpin took a sip of his drink and looked them over.

"Today you will be in a training mission, team RWBY against team CRDL." He paused. "You will be using live rounds and are not to soften your blows."

Yang and team CRDL grinned at this, Blake was impassive, and Weiss looked like she would explode, she opened her mouth to complain but Ozpin raised his hand.

"There will be no compromise Miss Schnee." Weiss glared daggers at Ozpin but closed her mouth. This is when the other, cruel Ruby decided to whisper its words.

"I think we should kill Cardin first, what do you think?" It laughed. "Not like you really have a say, as soon as we fight I'm in control. Have fun." The voice faded again leaving only its threats echoing through Ruby's head.

Ruby shook her head slightly. "_You can't let it take over. You have to fight without her._" She grabbed hold of Crescent Rose and unfolded it, revealing the sharpened blade.

"_How many Grimm have I….Has she killed with this?_" Yang nudged Ruby.

"You alright Ruby? You seem out of it." Ruby was jolted out of her thoughts and looked at her sister.

"I'm fine, Yang. Just thinking." Ruby wiped the hair from her eyes and looked straight ahead at the forest in front of them, Ozpin continued.

"You will have ten minutes to run into the forest and either hide or hold your ground. The mission is to make the enemy team leaders aura go into the red. Any questions?" Nobody asked any. "Good. Go...now." Team RWBY and CRDL ran into the forest and disappeared from each other's view.

"Oh wonderful!" The voice rang into Ruby's head. "Now here's what you're going to do, separate from your team without them noticing, and you're going to go and kill Cardin." Ruby felt the oppressive force of her other, cruel self and couldn't resist obeying.

"Good, now time is almost up. Get ready." the voice of her other self said then faded as it laughed. Ruby could hear team CRDL running right beside her. "_ok." _She thought. "_how can I keep contro-..._" The shot rang out announcing it was time, Ruby's concentration faltered and she was overwhelmed by her crazed half.

"Its time Ruby." It mocked. Ruby watched in silent horror as she cocked her weapon and aimed it at the now exposed Russel Thrush.

"Its time for you to fear me."

* * *

Ruby watched as the body that was once hers fired a lethal round at a fellow student.

The bullet tore through Russel's head, spewing blood, and brain matter across the once  
peaceful forest.

Ruby tried to control her body, to stop this but she couldn't.

"Enjoy being powerless?" The voice mocked. "Don't worry, I'll be leaving you to explain this." Ruby felt her body's mouth open and let out a cruel and evil laugh.

Cardin spotted Ruby first and hefted his mace with a shocked look in his eyes.

"You...killed him?!" He came out of his shock and a flame ignited behind his eyes. He opened his mouth again to speak, but Ruby had already lunged at him and punched him in the throat.

Cardin fell to his knees gagging as Ruby spun, and kicked Sky Lark in the side of the head, she then brought the scythe down on top of his back.

Ruby then turned, the still embedded scythe towards Dove Bronzewing and fired. The round hit Dove in the chest knocking him down but not killing him and pulled the Crescent Rose Through Sky's upper body cutting him mostly in half.

"_You can't do this!_" Ruby screamed inside her head.

"Oh but I can, dear." the voice and her mouth said in unison. "I can do whatever I want now."

She walked to dove and bared the short dagger like blade on the bottom of the scythe and stabbed Dove through the heart with it.

She then walked to Cardin and rolled him onto his back. He looked at her in fear.

"Ruby?" He croaked. "Why are you doing this?"

Ruby crouched next to him and touched his face.

"Because Ruby is not in control." She stood up, folded the scythe, and hit cardin with the blunted weapon. She kicked him in the side of the head and brought the folded scythe head down on his chest again and again.

"_Just kill him!_" Ruby begged. "_Why must he suffer!_"

Ruby stopped and laughed before saying. "Because my dear Ruby. I want to cause suffering, I want to slaughter." She looked down at Cardin.

"And I always hated Cardin." She hit him several more times with the folded head before he died.

She looked around. "Well that was easy and fast." A crooked grin spread on her face "It only took two minutes." It relinquished it's hold on Ruby's body and faded.

"Have fun explaining this." She mocked just as the sounds of Ruby's team were heard.

Ruby fell to her knees next to Cardins corpse and cried.


End file.
